News & Events

Ford unveils a new hybrid police car for high-speed chases

Police departments across the country will now be able to chase fleeing perps in a car that gets an EPA-estimated 38 miles per gallon.

The new Ford Police Responder Hybrid Sedan will be the first pursuit-rated hybrid police car offered in America, according to Ford. You may have seen police in your neighborhood driving hybrids like Toyota Priuses or Chevrolet Volts. Those cars are mostly just used to get police officers from one place to another. They're not intended for pursuing and apprehending suspects in what could be dangerous high-speed chases.

The Police Responder Hybrid Sedan is based on the Ford Fusion Hybrid, but a number of changes have been made to fit it out for serious police work. Among other things, the Police Responder will have better engine cooling, stronger brakes, a more rugged suspension system and skid plates underneath to protect mechanical components when the car drives over curbs.

In order to officially qualify as "pursuit rated," the Ford Police Responder will be tested this fall by the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department and the Michigan State Police, two agencies that rate pursuit vehicles for police departments across the country. Ford is confident it will pass based on the automaker's own internal testing. The car will be available this spring.

Besides being able to catch criminals, Ford (F) is also touting the $3,900 in annual fuel savings per car compared to regular police cars. The hybrid's fuel economy is almost twice is good as that of the non-hybrid Ford Police Interceptor.

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"An evening with Jim Cuddy" in support of the YWCA Toronto

On Wednesday, November 23, 2016, the Downtown Automotive Group (DAG) proudly presented the acclaimed Canadian musical artist Jim Cuddy at the iconic Winter Garden Theatre in Downtown Toronto.

The event, which was attended by more than 400 people including DAG customers, vendors, automotive partners and DAG employees, was a resounding success raising funds which will go directly towards the YWCA Toronto Women's Shelters program.

Our corporate partners were instrumental to the success of the event and the results of the initiative that will be given to the YWCA Toronto.

With amazing music, delicious gourmet samplings and wine, the event demonstrated the community support for the YWCA Toronto Women's Shelters program and the deep commitment DAG has for the organization.

Downtown Ford makes our street premier at Buskerfest 2016

Toronto Buskerfest 2016 was held over the Labour Day long weekend in September 2016. It is an international gathering of buskers (or street performers) not only from Toronto & Canada but from around the world.

We were a proud sponsor of the festival this year - specifically the Classic Car Show.

A gorgeous weekend has had by all and Downtown Ford was happy to partner with Buskerfest at this year's festival.

Ford is back on the track in Le Mans. (June 2016)

U-S-A! U-S-A! Ford Steamrolls GTE Class at 2016 24 Hours of Le Mans

What a difference a day-and 2890 miles-makes. After the first hour at this year's Le Mans 24 Hours, it looked as if Ford's expensive return to the world's most famous endurance race, timed to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the brand's first overall victory, was set to unravel in dramatic fashion in front of 263,500 fans.

Before the race even began, the #67 GT had been pushed off the grid and back to its garage with a gearbox fault. It was eventually fixed but with a delay that took it out of contention for class honors. Torrential rain meant the race began behind a trio of safety cars, and when these were eventually called in 52 minutes later, the remaining three Fords looked to be off the pace.

It took just four minutes for the #66 GT that was running second in class to be passed by the #51 Ferrari 458. The leading GT, #68, soon proved equally powerless to keep the Ferrari at bay, and before long both they and the Ferraris were overwhelmed by the flying Porsche Motorsport 911 RSRs, which proved to be particularly happy in the damp conditions.

The grins that had been worn by the senior executives in Ford's corporate hospitality unit faded. Although this is Ford's first year in the World Endurance Championship, we were in no doubt that Le Mans was the primary target. "It's optimized not just for the class but for here; it was designed for this track," Raj Nair, Ford's chief technical officer, told us before the race began, also admitting that it would have made more sense for the GT to make its debut a year earlier, to gain experience for the bid to win on the 50th anniversary of the GT40's first victory. "To be honest, we had some false starts. We had a window there that could have allowed us to run in '15, put the car out, and then really make the run in 2016 for the 50th anniversary. But we didn't get the program approved in time."